Iran may be last stop for Saudi-Israel normalization
Negotiations continue in multiple capitals to address the many obstacles to establishing diplomatic relations.
Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, known as MBS, told Fox News last week that “everyday we get closer" to normalizing ties with Israel, but it ultimately depends on a breakthrough with the Palestinians.
Left mostly unsaid is that a full peace with Israel probably also depends on a breakthrough with Iran, above and beyond the China-brokered Iranian-Saudi rapprochement achieved earlier this year.
First stop: Ramallah
Let’s start with the Palestinian issue. Last week, in the first such visit by a Saudi official since at least 1967, Nayef bin Bandar al-Sudairi, Saudi ambassador to Palestine and consul general to the city of Jerusalem, visited Ramallah and reaffirmed the Saudi commitment to a Palestinian state, as reported by Daoud Kuttab in his must-read Al-Monitor Palestine Newsletter.
